Sunday's devo - Search Our Inmost Parts

I am reading in Leviticus and yesterday I read about the peace offering and the burnt offering. The priest had to prepare the offering by laying his hand upon the head of his offering and killing it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Aaron's sons were to sprinkle the blood on and around the altar. Then he was to cut off the fat and the two kidneys and the caul above the liver, and take these parts away and burn the rest.
Yesterday I talked about being anxious and how fear hinders us from entering in to God's rest. Somehow I knew this sacrifice was related to so I started digging and asking God. Picture Jesus, as our High priest, preparing us to be a perfect sacrifice that will please God. We all want that. The "sacrifice" part is a little scary, but necessary, to be pleasing to God. So Jesus lays his power (hand) on our head (our weakness - the part that is most easily shaken or deceived). He holds it tightly so he can start cuting off the things in our life that aren't pleasing to God. He starts with the fat - the most choice part; the things closest to our heart like pride, selfishness, self-pity, fear, lust. Those are the ones most visible. Then he goes to the kidneys and the caul above the liver. These are the inner parts that are hidden and secret. "Kidneys" in the Hebrew means the "mind (as the interior self)" or what you think of yourself. He starts cutting that away. He doesn't want you to have YOUR opinion of yourself. He wants you to have HIS opinion of yourself. He NEEDS you to have his opinion of yourself or you will never be able to do all he has planned for you to do. The "caul above the liver" means the things that flap or hang outside the liver. If the liver is an essential part that we need then these outhangings must be the little foxes that eat up our fruit. These are the things that we hang on to like "I can't do that because...", "I'm not good enough..." They are whatever lie the devil can throw at you or whatever excuse you hold on to, or whatever crutch you use to render yourself inoperable. Anyway, the priest cuts them off.
I think it is interesting that the sons of the Priest sprinkle the blood on and around the altar at the beginning. And they also burn the sacrifice on the altar at the end;. So we have to initiate this work by applying the blood of Jesus to our lives then after every trial (cutting away) we have to allow the trial to burn up all the chaff in our lives. Otherwise the trial was in vain. What a waste of a bad thing.
Lord, may we salvage every trial for your glory.